When Christians Cite the Bible to Defend Child Molestation We’ve Reached the Bottom of the American / Evangelical Slide to Hell

The Alabama state auditor, a Republican named Jim Ziegler, defended Judge Roy Moore’s brush with pedophilia, said Moore was “clean as a hound’s tooth” and offered a defense of child abuse saying the Virgin Mary was a teenager when Joseph married her — the Bible does not indicate her age — adding: “They became parents of Jesus.”

The virgin birth didn’t happen, apparently. This is news that most evangelicals might find alarming. If Joseph was the baby’s father, there goes 2000 years of Christian doctrine.

Odd to find Trump/Moore evangelicals are all secretly Unitarians. Only the Unitarians I know don’t coddle child molesters.

Meanwhile, an Alabama Republican legislator, Ed Henry, went even further: He said that the women accusing Moore should be prosecuted for waiting to make their allegations. Interesting. Put this right up there with Trump painting all women who ever named him as a rapist, molester or abuser as liars and saying he’d sue. We’re still waiting.

As the Washington Post reported, “Roy Moore, then a 32-year-old assistant district attorney in Alabama, allegedly brought a 14-year-old girl to his home alone. She told The Post that Mr. Moore served her alcoholic drinks, kissed her and undressed her,” just like Joseph with Mary, no doubt.

Moore reportedly pursued relationships with many other teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18 during that same time period, but Republican officials have yet to denounce the conduct categorically even though some individuals have spoken out.

Moore’s campaign declares that “this garbage is the very definition of fake news.” And Steve Bannon asserts that his candidate is being smeared by the Washington Post who also smeared Trump and so forth…

Republicans in Washington have hedged their condemnations. “If true, [the allegations] would disqualify anyone from serving in office,” a statement from Vice President Pence’s office announced. “If these allegations are true, he must step aside,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared.

“If true” is not just ridiculous. It’s another way of saying “these women” are liars.

“These women” had nothing to gain and much to lose by coming forward.

Now their word is questioned — and for what? To save a the reputation of a gun-waving Evangelical clown in a cowboy hat… and maybe a tax giveaway to billionaires?

As the Post noted: “White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, she who has encountered no argument too weak to embrace, had this to say about allegations that Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore molested a 14-year-old girl: ‘Like most Americans, the president believes we cannot allow a mere allegation, in this case one from many years ago, to destroy a person’s life. However, the president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside.’”

Sarah has already made her Jesus-loving bargain with Satan Himself—rather with Trump. She lies for a pervert daily.

Trump was himself the target of such years-old “mere” allegations, more than twenty from women (one an ex-wife who accused him of rape) who claimed he sexually assaulted them. Sarah has no problem in lying for this assaulter of women.

These were, as then-candidate Trump assured us — and as Sanders, ever willing, reasserted just last month — all “horrible liars,” who would be duly sued after the election.

Moore suggested just this year that the 9/11 terror attacks were God’s punishment because “we legitimize sodomy.” He has said that homosexuality is “the same thing” as sex with a cow and should be criminalized, and argued that Representative Keith Ellison should not be allowed to serve in Congress because he is a Muslim.

Following Moore’s “logic” it might be time to ask when God will destroy America because it is filled with people claiming to follow Jesus who also—like Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Roy Moore, Jim Ziegler and others—sink to both blasphemy and outright lies in defending child molesting in the name of the Bible.

When Evangelicals defend an alleged pedophile saying Moore is as “clean as a hound’s tooth” and offer a defense of child abuse saying the Virgin Mary was a teenager when Joseph married her (in fact, the Bible does not indicate her age), adding: “They became parents of Jesus,” then maybe God really will strike down America… just for the hell of it, because—like Trump grabbing women’s crotches—He can get away with it.

This morning, I had the great honor of joining Joy Reid, Karine Jean-Pierre, Kurt Bardella, David Frum, Jason Johnson, and Bishop William Barber on AM Joy to discuss the desperate hypocrisy of the Republican party, which has become, unequivocally and enthusiastically, the party of Trump, Mass Shootings, Milo, Bannon, Rape, Neo-Nazis, White Supremacy, and most recently, the repeatedly disgraced Judge Roy Moore, whose actions have added a new word to the Republican lexicon: Pedophile.

If the accusations against Roy Moore were true, they would have been made years ago and not now. That they are being made now means the accusations are designed to keep Roy Moore from being elected to the US Senate. The timing certainly indicates the women making the accusations are indeed liars. They may be being paid by Republicans, and/or Democrats. But even if they are not paid, they at least have a political motivation for lying about Mr. Moore.

You nailed it. The issue is the difference in age and the abuse of power between Moore who was 30 and an attorney in the DAs office and a vulnerable 14 year old.
Sex between peers is a different issue.

But put an R by their and there’s no doubt they’re innocent . Have them claim to be Christians and they’re most definitely innocent regardless of the proof and facts

And Bryson ? It has nothing to do with liking or disliking you pathetic waste of perfectly good air … and everything to do with the facts and pubic record on both . Especially the L.Ron Hubbard of the Alt Right Steve Bannon

BTW my little chickenhawk .. lost your cojones for the fight ? What happened .. figured out I’ can make a fool of you at will online or in person … Gary Neil Bryson

Bryson .. do you have even a modicum of proof in light of the now ten women accusing Moore of the same along with a decades long record of misogyny , bigotry and hatred that he did not ?

If not then shut up and quit trying to justify sin with irrelevant circular logic !

But the main issue at hand is yours and your so called biblical christians blatant double standards as stated . Put an R by their name and they’re automatically innocent with you/them automatically justifying their actions with misinterpretations of the Bible you use as a doorstop . Place a D by their name and they’re guilty despite the evidence .

” The accusers must furnish the proof of guilt. Which they have not done. It is not my job, nor Roy Moore’s, to prove his innocence ”

And again the hypocrisy comes shining thru ;

Neither is it your place to defend Roy Moore nor to levy potentially false accusations against his accusers … nor is your place to pass judgment on that which you have zero understanding of .. e.g. rape and women

For the love of God, Moore is trying to become a UNITED STATES SENATOR, of course it’s important. Apparently his past makes no difference to most Alabamans, aside from the woman FINALLY coming forward when it matters to the country. Take a look at his history in Alabama, TWICE tossed from the judiciary??? just to START with AND THEN they RE-ELECTED HIM!!?? Are you kidding? What would have been the point for her to come forward? Now this perverted pedophile wants to be elected senator. This infected man wants to sit and vote on legislation that will affect the entire population. Bless that womans heart for stepping forward to warn us.

And again I say … Tell you what Bryson . How about we throw you into a cell with Big Helmut letting him and his Neo Nazi crew sodomize you for say … a day or two .. or and then lets see how long it takes you to press charges

Suffice it to say Bryson if you’re like 80% of all men who are victims of rape you’ll never report it … with many of them ending their own lives due to the shame , fear and guilt

Now place that into the context of a 14 year old girl having been raped by the prosecutor / judge in her town

Ahh .. but then again for any of that to make any sense you’d have to have at least an agnostics level of compassion , empathy and understanding for your fellow man / woman … never mind a Biblical Christians level .

The question is .. which is more pathetic and laughable … your delusional comments and replies about Roy Moore … or watching Roy Moore begging for money like some blubbering little five year old as if he’d just survived a natural disaster ?

Tell you what Bryson . How about we throw you into a cell with Big Helmut letting him and his Neo Nazi crew sodomize you for say … a day or two .. and then lets see how long it takes you to press charges

Suffice it to say Bryson if you’re like 80% of all men who are victims of rape you’ll never report it … with many of them ending their own lives due to the shame , fear and guilt

Now place that into the context of a 14 year old girl having been raped by the prosecutor / judge in her town

Ahh .. but then again for that to make any sense you’d have to have at least an agnostics level of compassion and empathy for your fellow man / woman … never mind a Biblical level .

Keep in mind that what else is going on is that powerful men in hollywood are being outed as abusing their power to exploit vulnerable women. The fact that some of that has splashed on Roy Moore is a symptom of the newfound confidence of these women spreading.

I predict, Mr. Bryson, that in the coming months you will see an examination of the patriarchy and exposure of conservative christian culture as pedophilic and specific conservative christians in particular as pedophiles. Roy Moore is simply the first one.

Basically, this is a clash of moral systems between one based on consent and happiness for all versus one based on the dominance of men over women, children, minorities and exploitation of said groups for the pleasure of the dominant. I.e. its about true morality coming to the fore after being suppressed for literally ages.

Actually, quite a lot of sex crime victims are too scared or feel too ashamed to usually report these crimes. It is likely that the victim finally drew the courage to expose her attacker, aka Moore. Even Mr. Romney believes her.
The only question remains: What the fuck is your problem?

My problem is that no proof has been given for the accusations. The timing of the accusations means it is a political stunt to keep Roy Moore from being elected. If the accusations had ANY validity, they would have been made years ago.

Oh gee Bryson . So its ok when the GOP does that along with a multitude of other accusations on a regular basis ? Suffice it to say along with your religious … your political and legal hypocrisy is shining thru like a florescent beacon high upon a pile of luke warm fertilizer

And ahhh … Zippy .. if you’d take the time to read the WP’s original story along with their explanation on the timing rather than resorting to your conspiracy addled Alt Right Twitter/FaceBook feeds you’d know the timing was a matter of circumstance rather than intent

Would you feel the same way if Moore had raped one of your relatives Gary? Does that kind of rationalization and denial help you sleep at night? Consider that the women may have decided to come forward now because Moore has the potential to become a Senator. Perhaps his victims felt that such stakes were worth the shitstorm that would be rained down upon them for coming forward.
Bill Cosby was accused of rape by 60 women and ADMITTED to committing rape on a deposition from a civil trial and he was acquitted. One of Trump’s accusers received bombing and death threats until she backed down. Anita Hill, whom I doubt you believed (assuming you remember her), didn’t come forward with her accusations until Thomas was a Supreme Court nominee because she knew that she would be met with a “nuts and sluts” smear campaign to discredit her.

The fact that troglodytes such as yourself actually believe that even one woman, let alone four women, would make this kind of accusation is evidence enough of why they would hesitate to come forward 30-40 years ago. Why would they expect any outcome other than someone in the D.A.’s office, one of Moore’s coworkers, sweeping such accusations under the rug?

If you were raped I’d like to know how quickly YOU, Gary, would come forward and make accusations?? I realize it may be antithetical to your nature, but try to exercise some empathy and logical reasoning before you offer up an opinion.

Actually, women very often do not come forward to report sexual assault. This country does not exactly have a history of treating vulnerable young women with kindness if they accuse a powerful older man of unwanted sexual contact. They risk having their lives torn apart, and you can see that happening right now.

Amazing! I’ve been trying to put down in words what you said this morning on Joy AM. You said so clearly and concisely what is happening to our country and the Republican party. For full disclosure, I’m a lifelong Democrat but have always held that our government could work together as Republicans, Democrats and Independents. I come from a similar background in the Baptist Church but grew up in a very liberal environment prior to joining the church fortunately. I had a good base to understand what was going on in the church. I hope your message gets out but I am concerned that the ones that need to hear it will only ignore it. I’m going to continue the same but thank you for being so articulate on the subject!

Back in my evangelical days, we had 2 members of our church staff who were later accused of pedophilia which made the local news. I personally heard stories from some of my own peers who were approached by them and solicited for sex. When it all came out, they of course denied it and threatened to sue the accusers. I thought it was interesting, even as a teenager I remember these 2 staff members were the ones in church who were always barking the loudest about “moral values”, especially the ones of a sexual nature.

A good resource is Victor Vieth, JD. A former DA he has published and documented that fundamentalist churches will undermine children who report sexual abuse and will protect the usually male perpetrators. Frank is telling the truth.

I never cease to be amazed at the lengths many evangelicals go to in order rationalize the misdeeds of their “beloved” candidates. This perversion of scripture is the lowest of the low. Of course, when they get called out on it, they usually cry out persecution or that they are being attacked by satan. It’s all so very predictable how they respond.

You don’t think so ? Problem is Bryson .. you don’t think … period ! ( nor do you read comments in their entirety before replying ) As with your precious Toddle in Chief you haven’t taken the time to look over Moore’s decades long record of breaking and flaunting the law both state , local and federal .

The very fact that you’d ask such an idiotic question shows point blank your complete lack of knowledge of both the context of the accusations and Bible …

FYI Idiot the subject is rape .. not consensual sex ! But if you’ve got about four hours and an extensive enough platform to contain my full reply .. I’d be glad to share what the Bible has to say about pervasions .. extra marital sex .. illicit sex with another mans child etc etc etc etc etc

Ha-ha! I noticed all the sock puppets started showing up a few blog posts ago. They always ask the same questions re-worded a little differently with the change in names–ie. Courtney, Jake Blair, etc. How coincidental huh?

Nine,
The subject matter is sureal. Are these trolls economically impovered? It seems that they would have to be somewhat bright in order to do that. If they are economically improved and let’s say coerced into that career then I guess they will burn a little quicker while the dog tooth polishers sit in the tanning bed torture section of hell. I have other ideas for those higher up the food chain. I have a pretty good imagination.

Moore has already proven that he can not be trusted and doesn’t care for the rights of others. He has ignored the law and the Constitution which resulted in his removal from the Alabama Supreme Court on two occasions. He calls Americans “reds and yellows”. Given his past history, why is anyone even considering voting this person?

You know who else is OK with child marriage? Mohammed. So I guess they’ ve got one thing in common. I mean, it would be an odd thing for the faiths to converge on, but seems like a start. Rape another man’s wife? Well, God forgave King David, so he’ll forgive Trump.

And here we have the Collective Stupidity not to mention the uninformed audacity of the Evangelic never Right

Which is to say Lois … ya’ll might want try reading that Bible of yours collecting dust rather than using it as a doorstop . Not to mention taking a course or two in comparative religions before making a fool of yourself for all to see

If you mean Louis. What makes you think I don’t read the Bible and study other religions? Here’s the thing, Try to understand when someone is NOT being dead serious. And how can Roy’s supporters ask us to take them serious when they compare him to Joseph? Indeed, not every Christianity views Jesus’ brothers as sons of Mary. Hopefully, my comment IS the most inane, except that we’re discussing a defense of child molestation using the Bible — it begs humor., but I pipe for you but you don’t dance.

#1 When posting a comment such as this intended to be sarcastic it is generally considered wise to place the acronym sarc somewhere within your comment especially with the likes of a Bryson and his sock puppets present and the overall seriousness of the subject at hand .

#2 Correction ; Mohammed ‘ married Aisha at age ten ( according to the myth ) he did not rape her

#3 As for the Lois – Louis mistake … an unintentional typo and mea culpa

#4 Another of your glaring errors … comparing Trump to David … granted in light of your somewhat weak explanation this may of been intended as sarcasm but the reality is there is nothing funny about such a ludicrous comparison in light of ;

a) David was a man of God before he fell … whereas Trump is and always has been his own god

b) David seduced the wife of another man … he did not rape her

c) God only forgives those who seek His forgiveness which David did after many years of trials and punishment . Whereas Trump never so much as admits he is wrong never mind seeking any semblance of forgiveness

#4 But the worst and the most irrelevant error in your vain attempt at sarcasm and humor was bringing up the subject of underage marriage .. Suffice it to say the subject at hand is rape .. not marriage

So in conclusion I have to in all honesty say your attempts at humor and sarcasm at best are rather lacking in both content and form not to mention humor … if you want people to dance you’d do well to learn how to play the damn instrument first … and don’t go quitting your day job any time soon

Aha, I’ve left out a line, that Mohammed married Aisha when she was as young as 10. And no it’s not really funny, as a fact or a joke. Nevertheless I am asking, “can we put our scriptural facts into historical and cultural perspective?” And can we NOT attempt to justify ourselves by Bible selections but by whatever wisdom we so we don’t sound absurd? The fact that the U.S. and many Muslim countries have few protections against child marriage.

Frank, we are so grateful for your voice and convictions and for sharing without fear or hesitation your life experiences. As former Evangelicals, and a former missionary kid, you couldn’t resonate more with us. We totally agree. With every word. You and the panel are the most clear-minded honest individuals on this topic of Moore, Trump and American Evangelicalism. Don’t stop speaking out. The United States needs your voice. In the 40 years of our marriage we have seen the Evangelical establishment slowly rot. Our first encounter with this was similar in some ways to the Moore scenario. It makes us sick, and creates tremendous anxiety as we relive it through the statements made by those who support Moore & Trump. The former president of the mission organization my parents were apart of molested little girls while on the mission field. As a kid I had full awareness of this. The lack of accountability and the lack of disquest for his actions and the lack of calling him out at the time – as well as later – when he returned to the US with the rest of us- began our deconstruction of this belief system. We began to realize American Evangelicalism was tainted. It’s taken 30 + year’s for us to be truthful about this tribe and move away from it. We continue to believe in God and have chosen to embrace the most inclusive liberal denomination in the USA. We are incredibly thankful we are free of the former establishment; however, we will be forever haunted that we were apart of it in a carrier of ministerial ways. And let me tell you it has left scars. Again, thank you from the bottom of our heart. Your voice is necessary. Don’t stop.

For those who would like to understand how evangelicalism in the south became a defense of slavery, a new history explains: The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America by Francis Fitzgerald, Pulitzer Prize winner. For those who want to know how corporate America invented Christian America: One Nation Under God by Kevin Kruse. Religion has always been used as mass mind control. It justifies the political and social and economic agendas of the elite at the expense of the masses.

No good sir they do not . As a Reformation Theologian / Apologist / Philosopher as I’ve stated many times in regards to the majority of todays American Evangelicals … the only thing they know less about than the US Constitution they claim to be in defense of …is the Bible they claim to adhere to

The sad fact is the overwhelming majority of todays American Evangelicals know more about Ayn Rand’s ” Atlas Shrugged ” , the Gospel of Ayn Rand and Joel Olsteen’s gnostic Prosperity Gospel than they do about the Bible

Bryson .. the only one expressing bias ( and sycophancy ) around here is you .. to the point of being blatantly obvious to anyone

Once again child … it hasn’t nothing to do with liking or political bias … and everything to do with Moore’s long standing record of misogyny , bigotry , racism and overall flaunting / hatred of the law both state local and federal . Not to mention now ten women accusing Moore of the same .. along with several others claiming sexual abuse etc .

Moore’s political enemies assume he is guilty of whatever he is accused of. If someone accused him of assassinating JFK, these same people would assume his guilt. Moore’s political supporters want proof of his guilt, which of course, will not be shown. There is only the accusation from a woman who very likely was paid to make the accusation at this time.

Ahhh yes .. the tin foil hat conspiracy theorist complete with a phalanx of bias and hatred towards everyone all while claiming to be a Biblical Christian has the blatant nerve and audacity to post an irrelevant misinformed and utterly stupid comment such as this

Seriously Bryson .. you wanna know why the religion of Christianity in America is rapidly declining into the demise , irrelevancy and abyss of its own making ?

Look no further than yourself

Suffice it to say Bryson … its bad enough the likes of you have volitionally lost all your ” Salt ” .. in the world .. but worse … you’ve replaced it with saccharine and strychnine

A hounds tooth is not clean. In fact there are many bacteria in a hounds tooth. Some hounds suffer a lot of toothache, because their owners just assume that their teeth are clean. There we have the answer.